To the editor:

Thank you to the County Commissioners for awarding the Clinton Lake Historical Society grant as the society proposed for the museum addition for storage, research and exhibition space. I would like to state for the record the Clinton Lake Historical Society has received two grants from the Kansas Humanities Council, museum consultation services from the National Park Service as well as funding for research, two grants from the National Park Service, a grant from the Kansas Arts Commission, and private donations since 2005. The Society has a strong honorable stewardship in their board and community volunteer support. I have been involved with the museum since 2006 initially as an art consultant for the sculpture project which you are each invited to view (“Freedom Rings” by Stephen Johnson). The sculpture represents the ten communities past and present which were affected by the Clinton Lake construction.

Personally I have never met such a committed community to maintaining their heritage for future generations. I have attended music gatherings, ice cream socials, barbecue banquets with each instilling in my heart the importance of rural communities.

I was raised in Austin and Houston, Texas, but received my master’s in art education from the University of Kansas and have grown in mind and heart from my experience with the Wakarusa River Valley Heritage Museum. Please know your trust is appreciated, and I am assured the community will maintain and manage the museum they have with dignity and a well-planned future.